Disclaimer: Nothing that you recognize belongs to me

Dani was seated comfortably on Sirius' bed, but inside she was anything but comfy. She had the strange suspicion that Lily was more intuitive than she was letting on, and that made her extra nervous.

"So," Remus said slowly, "Does somebody want to tell me what's going on?"

Dani looked around with what she hoped was wonder or confusion.

"What do you mean?" she asked innocently.

"For one thing: Why are you eating one of those?" James asked, eying her blood sucker with a grimace. "They're nasty."

Remus rolled his eyes, "I was referring to the theories that these three have been trading."

"Where's Peter?" Dani asked suddenly.

"Tutoring." Sirius filled in.

Lily really didn't want to accuse Dani of anything, but it sort of made sense. "Dani…Have you come back in time?"

Dani smiled. If only. "Yup. I did."

"Really?" James gasped.

"No." Dani said shortly, "Believe it or not, your secret was really obvious. And the reason that I'm eating one of these is because I think they're good."

Sirius looked at the girl directly in the eye.

"You know that you can tell us anything, right?" he asked sincerely.

Dani smiled, and said "yes", even though she really didn't believe him. That seemed to finish up that conversation, and Dani was glad for it. What did they want her to do? Tell them all that she was half vampire? Well, that wasn't going to happen.

At the same time, though, her thirst for blood was getting stronger, and inversely, her patience was getting shorter.

She didn't really want to get sick, which she would if she ignored her urge for blood. The stuff in those vials just wasn't fresh enough. She'd have to write home that night. Maybe her mom could send her a bit. Her dad could try, but he probably wouldn't be able to get it to an owl without indulging himself.

"Dani," James said quietly, not really wanting to wake her up from her thoughts. "Would you mind transforming for a second? I sort of fell on the stairs, and I don't really want to tell Poppy why I was running…" Dani raised an eyebrow, "I was trying to get away from Snivellus. He sort of went insane…" She didn't want to know how he fell, or why Snape was chasing him. Frankly, she didn't care. She just wanted to make this blood go away so that she could control herself better.

Dani rolled her eyes, and transformed into a phoenix, laying a pearly tears across his chest and back.

"Lunch time?" Sirius begged.

James laughed as Dani finished up and transformed human.

"Sure, Pads. Let's go!"

Lily and James trailed after Sirius and Dani, and Remus elected to stay in his dormitory. He still couldn't believe that Dani had figured out his secret. He thought that he'd been so discreet.

(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

"Blood sausage!" Sirius moaned unhappily. Dani smiled over at the staff table to send a silent thank you to the Headmaster. Apparently, he understood how difficult it was to go these last few days without any blood.

For some reason, Dani missed home. She missed her dad and how he made everything vampire related seem easy. He'd done it for years, so maybe it was border-line simple for him. But now, facing it alone, Dani was nervous. She wanted blood more than she ever remembered wanting it before.

As horrible as it made her feel, when Sirius leaned back in his chair, she imagined sinking her sharp teeth into his long neck. It was the most blissful daydream that she'd ever had. Tasting that hot, coursing blood. Feeling warm and sustained for the first time in weeks. She could smell it. She could taste it. She could feel it.

Dani piled her own plate with blood sausage, temporarily setting aside her blood sucker.

Lily eyed it, starting to realize something. Sirius and James just looked disgusted.

Dani didn't really care who gave her whatever kind of look they wanted. It wasn't as though she intended to act on those urges to go sink her teeth into one of them.

She could control herself better than that.

(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)*(*)

"It's all right…" Dani whispered to herself at two o'clock Tuesday morning. "You'll be fine…"

Tori snoozed peacefully a few inches away from her.

She'd already had the stuff that her mom had sent her. It was cold and useless.

These blood suckers did nothing for her now.

She was out of options.

She sat by herself, rocking quietly in a corner of the Common Room, completely encased in shadow.

She didn't want to be around anybody.

She didn't want to attack anybody.

She refused, but she needed blood.

She had gotten even paler as the clock struck midnight.

She had already vomited everything in her stomach.

She was ill.

She knew that she needed a decent source of blood.

Soon.

Dani rocked a little bit faster. She really wanted to just sneak up those stairs and dig her teeth into somebody.

Her two sharp fangs had gotten longer and sharper over the past few hours, and it hurt to run her tongue over them.

She almost wished that she could bite herself. Wished that it would sustain her, but she knew that it wouldn't.

She shushed herself softly, stifling a whimper.

Just then, footsteps could be heard making their way down the stairs from the boy's dormitory. Dani spent a fraction of a second indulging herself in the fantasy of attacking whoever it was. She didn't need much; they'd probably be fine.

Sirius stepped into the Common Room, casting a look around for who he'd heard down there.

Dani froze and kept silent, but Tori chose that moment to bound out and over to Sirius, mewing loudly.

Sirius knelt, and picked up the little kitten. "Hello, there." He said cheerfully, "Where's Dani?"

The kitten mewed, but Dani didn't move. From where she sat, she could practically see the blood coursing beneath his very exposed skin.

For some reason, he'd come down in only his boxers.

Dani couldn't keep herself together anymore. She needed to get rid of him.

She stood up, and walked over quietly. To Sirius, it seemed that she'd appeared out of nowhere.

"Good morning," Dani said calmly.

Sirius smiled happily, "Hi!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing up so late?"

Dani shrugged as nonchalantly as she could manage. "Couldn't sleep. What's your excuse?" she asked, stroking her kitten's ear lightly.

Sirius shrugged, "I'm a really light sleeper, especially after all these years with Prongs…I thought I heard something down here." The girl smiled. Her stomach growled loudly. Sirius looked at her with concern. "You sound hungry. Want to go to the kitchens?"

Dani knew that if she was around Sirius for that long, she wouldn't be able to contain her urge to sink her teeth into some part of his exposed skin.

Even being around Tori was difficult, with that cat's blood being so hot and her fur so soft…So penetrate-able.

She shook her head quickly.

"Uh, no. I don't think so."

Her stomach growled again.

Sell-out Dani thought angrily at it.

"Are you sure?" Sirius asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah," Dani said hastily. She needed to find a way to protect Tori. "But, um…Tori seems happy with you. Why don't you take her with you tonight?"

Indeed, the kitten was curled in his arms, her head pressed into the crook of his elbow.

Sirius smiled. "You know, I've never really been a cat person, but…I don't know... Tori's all right."

"All right?" Dani repeated, trying to sound irritated, like she normally would.

"Fine." Sirius said heavily, "She's bloody adorable. You happy?"

She nodded, "Yup. And she is, too. I'm going to go to sleep. Good night." But she knew that the couldn't be up there with those unsuspecting girls.

Dani went halfway up the stairs, then came back with the hope that Sirius would be gone.

He wasn't.

Sirius was sitting on the couch with Tori now lounging around his neck. On the verge of breaking into tears, she gave up. She could see that she wasn't getting through this without a little help.

"Sirius?" she said quietly. He didn't seem particularly surprised to see her. Maybe he knew that she was coming back. "I need your help."She quickly sat beside him.

"Anything." he pledged.

Dani grimaced, "You might not be so confident when you hear what it is…"

Sirius shot her a pointed look. "What do you need?"

"Blood." Dani said honestly.

"…What?" Sirius asked after a short pause.

Dani sighed and said very quickly, "I'm vampire, and I need blood to make it through today. I'm really, really sorry to put you in this position, but you can't tell anybody. And I'll heal you just as soon as I'm okay, but Sirius…I feel sick. Really sick. I need blood."

Sirius picked up her hand, noting how cold it was. It was seriously like holding a piece of ice. "This is an awkward question, but…would it turn me into a vampire?" he asked uncertainly.

Dani shook her head vigorously, surprised. "No! I'm only half vampire. I wouldn't ask that of you."

"In that case, of course I'll help." Sirius said, "But I don't know how to…"

Dani took over from there. She pulled her wand from her pajama pants and picked up his wrist. She quickly numbed the area, the shot him an apologetic look before lifting his arm to her mouth, and gently dipping her teeth into the skin.

Her teeth, which had gotten so sharp, sank in and drew blood immediately.

She yanked out her teeth clumsily, and sucked until the blood made its way around her body and she felt warm again.

She felt alive again.

She stopped herself as soon as she felt that she could survive and immediately healed his wrist with her wand.

She wiped her mouth sheepishly.

"Thank you." She muttered.

Sirius smiled. He was glad to help, especially when it was something so small.

Yes, it felt a little bit odd for a few minutes, but it didn't hurt or anything, and there were no side effects for himself besides the shiver that swept through him when he saw her so alive. She looked amazing. So full of energy. So much healthier than she had just minutes ago.

"Glad to help." Sirius said honestly.

Tori leapt into Dani's lap, enjoying the warmth that she hadn't ever felt before. Dani appreciated her pet for a few minutes in silence.

Sirius frowned slightly. "How can you handle having a secret like that?"

Dani shrugged, "I suppose the way that Remus does."

Sirius sighed lightly, shaking his head. "But Remus has us." He waited a moment, thinking, then, "You know that nobody would think different of you."

Dani shook her head. "Yes, they will. It isn't like Remus. He doesn't need help."

"But we offer it to him anyways." Sirius reminded her.

"Just…Promise that you won't tell anybody," Dani begged.

Sirius sighed lightly, "Fine. I promise."

"Good." Dani said, "Now, I'm really, really hungry."

Her stomach, seeming to second that statement, growled loudly just then.

Sirius smiled, "Then let's go!" he said happily.

Dani smiled, "Shouldn't you wear something?"

"Why?" Sirius asked cheerfully, "It's just the Elves."

Dani laughed, then followed him out of the Common Room, with Tori slung across her shoulders like a serpent.

A/N- So there. Dani finally asks for the help that she needs. Of course, Dashing and brilliant (not to mention dreamy) Sirius rushes in to help her.

Again, I wrote this before the Twilight saga (Which I'm a huge fan of, so I'm not dissing it) So Dani is nothing like Renesme. She can't live off one or the other. She needs both.

~Dani